Tembo takes graceful bow
Former Malawi Congress Party (MCP) president John Tembo on Sunday hailed the party’s convention which barred him from standing for a third term, saying democracy triumphed.
Tembo, one of the longest serving politicians in MCP as well as in Malawi, said in an interview the convention decided on the sticky issue of too many presidential aspirants.
Delegates to the MCP convention held at Natural Resources College (NRC) in the capital, Lilongwe elected former Malawi Assemblies of God president the Reverend Dr Lazarus Chakwera to be the party’s torchbearer in the 2014 presidential elections.
He said: “I am delighted with the process. Democracy has triumphed.”
Tembo said he offered to retire from the national executive committee (NEC) and from standing as a presidential candidate.
“The convention agreed [to request],” said Tembo, who told delegates to the convention on Saturday before elections that he was retiring although his name was put to delegates to decide whether he could contest for a third term.
He added: “I could not stand if the constitution was not amended. Delegates said they could not amend the constitution, so the convention agreed with my request to retire.”
But Tembo dodged questions on what lies ahead in his political career.
Tembo first contested for a parliamentary seat in the first multiparty general elections in 1961.
He rose through the ranks while holding some of the key positions in Malawi government, including that of minister of Finance and minister of State as well as governor of the Reserve Bank of Malawi (RBM).
Tembo was one of the key figures in MCP throughout the party’s 31-year rule under the late Hastings Kamuzu Banda which ended in May 1994.
Political scientists have said MCP convention delegates’ rejection of Tembo from standing is a manifestation that constitutionalism was taking root in the party.
On how the delegates’ decision could impact on Tembo’s political career as leader of opposition in Parliament, political scientist Ernest Thindwa is quoted as having said Tembo is safe on his position.
